Course Design - Sample Syllabus for an Environmental Exercise Physiology Course

This is a syllabus for an Environmental Exercise Physiology course. In the course, students will explore the acute and chronic physiological responses to exercise in different physical environments as well as injuries and illnesses related to exercising in environmental extremes. Students should have completed prerequisite courses in anatomy, physiology, and exercise physiology prior to taking this course as the nature of the content depends on having a foundation in those prior courses. Topics that will be covered in this class include: heat stress and hydration strategies for exercise; cold air exposure, cold water immersion, and diving and hyperbaric physiology; training, performing, and mountaineering at moderate and high altitudes; effects of microgravity and spaceflight; exercise in polluted environments; and effects of chrono-biological rhythms. A textbook will be used as a guiding framework for these topics. Course activities will include quizzes, exams, and a practical application project such as a presentation or field trip

Chinese Social Media as Laboratory: What We Can Learn about China from Research into Sina Weibo

Like all nations, China has been profoundly affected by the emergence of the Internet, particularly new forms of social media—that is, media that relies less on mainstream sources to broadcast news and instead relies directly on individuals themselves to share information. I use mixed methods to examine how three different but intertwined groups—companies, the government, and Chinese Internet users themselves (so-called “netizens”)—have confronted social media in China. In chapter one, I outline how and why China’s most important social media company, Sina Weibo, censors its website. In addition, I describe my research into blocked search terms on Sina Weibo, and explain why particular keywords are sensitive. In chapter two, I take a quantitative approach informed by political science methodology to examine how the names of Chinese politicians were handled by Sina Weibo during a major political event: the 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in November 2012. In response to research by Gary King which finds that online criticism of the government in China is allowed so long as it does not involve topics related to collective action, my study concludes that Sina Weibo actively filtered the search results of Communist Party delegates, particularly higher-ranked politicians and incumbents, during the observation period, often regardless of whether or not the individuals were controversial figures or linked to issues of collective action. In chapter three, I focus specifically on the end user, the microbloggers of Sina Weibo. Relying on communications and media studies research as well as content analysis, I report on the contentious comments netizens made in response to a post by the Japanese celebrity and porn star Sora Aoi—specifically ethnic slurs and nationalist rhetoric—during the Diaoyu Islands dispute between China and Japan in September 2012. These three components will allow readers to understand the power of social media in China—both contained within users and employed by authorities

Asia-Pacific telecommunications liberalisation and productivity performance

This study examines the growth in total factor productivity (TFP) of 12 Asia-Pacific telecommunications carriers for the period 1987 through 1990. Carriers are chosen to represent the stages of telecommunications liberalisation identified by the International Telecommunication Union (1995a). A model relating TFP growth to output growth, changes in output mix, technology change and market competition and private ownership is estimated on a unique data set obtained from telecommunications carrier annual reports. Empirical results show competition, private ownership, technology change and scale economies improve carrier TFP growth.Asia-Pacific telecommunications; liberalisation and productivity performance

Local auxin transport regulation in the nascent nodule - an overview in nodulating plants and an investigation into the cytokinin receptor, cre1 - mediated control of auxin transport in medicago truncatula

Legumes form a symbiotic relationship with a group of bacteria, collectively known as rhizobia. The bacterial symbiont fixes atmospheric nitrogen within root nodules, thus providing the host with an assimilative nitrogen source. Nodule formation involves a complex signalling pathway within the legume host. The plant hormone auxin is involved in nodule organogenesis, but how auxin regulates nodulation is still poorly described. Several studies have found increased auxin signalling in nodule primordia, but so far auxin metabolites have never been quantified during the early stages of nodulation. Therefore, the first aim of this thesis was to establish methods for auxin quantification in legume roots. The presumed build-up of auxin in nodule primordia has been predicted to be due to inhibition of auxin export from cells at the nodule initiation site, but the regulation of auxin transport has not been tested systematically in different legumes. Therefore, the second aim was to compare auxin concentrations and auxin transport changes during nodulation in different legumes. Third, the regulation of auxin transport and auxin accumulation was placed into the known signalling pathway of nodulation in the model legume, Medicago truncatula. Auxins are naturally present in low quantities in the root. We developed an LC-MS/MS method for the accurate and sensitive quantification of auxins in root tissues. The method was validated and produced sensitive limits of detection / quantification and correlation coefficients. To compare the role of auxin between indeterminate and determinate nodule types, we measured auxin transport and auxin content in M. truncatula (forming indeterminate nodules) and Lotus japonicus (forming determinate nodules). In addition to acropetal auxin transport, basipetal auxin transport was regulated in response to rhizobia inoculation in both legumes. Different auxins with distinct levels of abundance were detected in separate legumes, with some unique to the nodule tissues. Auxin concentrations increased at the early stages of nodule formation in M. truncatula, but not Lotus japonicus. The inhibition of acropetal polar auxin transport by rhizobia occurred only in indeterminate nodule-forming legumes and correlated with the ability of synthetic auxin transport inhibitors to induce pseudonodules in those legumes. Finally, we investigated the role of the cytokinin receptor CRE1 in modulating auxin transport during nodulation in M. truncatula. We found that cytokinin signalling through CRE1 is necessary for inhibition of acropetal auxin transport, increased auxin concentration and auxin signalling in response to rhizobia. The CRE1 receptor was also required for the correct induction of several flavonoids, which could act as endogenous auxin transport inhibitors. External application of those flavonoids rescued nodulation in the cre1 nodulation-deficient mutant. In conclusion, we demonstrated that the auxin transport machinery is a crucial component in the host legume that is regulated in response to rhizobia. Auxin transport changes could explain measured changes in auxin concentrations during nodule initiation of M. truncatula, but not L. japonicus. Auxin transport control is mediated by endogenous flavonoids, and both flavonoid induction and auxin transport control are regulated by cytokinin signalling in M. truncatula

Cardio-Protection Afforded by Β-Blockade Is Maintained During Resistance Exercise

Objectives Whether or not the cardio-protective effect of β-adrenergic blockade is retained during resistance exercise has not been systematically evaluated. Therefore the purpose of this study was to measure selected cardiorespiratory responses to isometric exercise involving hand-gripping, single-leg extension, or double-leg dead-lift, under placebo (control), β1-selective (atenolol), and non-selective (propranolol) adrenergic blockade conditions. Design Eleven young male adults were evaluated in a randomized, double-blinded, repeated measures study design and performed all three exercise modalities at 30% of maximal voluntary contraction under placebo, atenolol and propranolol conditions. Methods Heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, rate-pressure product, oxygen uptake, cardiac output, stroke volume and total peripheral resistance were directly measured or calculated at rest and during the third minute of each of the three exercise modes. Results Irrespective of drug condition, a graded pressor response was observed going from rest to exercise so that rest \u3c handgrip \u3c leg extension \u3c dead-lift for heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, rate-pressure product and oxygen uptake (p \u3c 0.05 for all). Cardiac output only increased with the dead-lift mode of exercise (p \u3c 0.01). Importantly β-adrenergic blockade with either atenolol or propranolol similarly attenuated the rise in heart rate, and systolic blood pressure; thus rate-pressure product demonstrated a mode-of-exercise by drug interaction effect (p \u3c 0.001) with the greatest reductions seen with the dead-lift procedure. Conclusions The findings indicate that cardio-protection afforded by selective or non-selective β-blockade at rest is preserved during isometric exercise and even enhanced once heart rate increases above 100 beats min−1

Non-Parametric Estimation of Forecast Distributions in Non-Gaussian, Non-linear State Space Models

The object of this paper is to produce non-parametric maximum likelihood estimates of forecast distributions in a general non-Gaussian, non-linear state space setting. The transition densities that define the evolution of the dynamic state process are represented in parametric form, but the conditional distribution of the non-Gaussian variable is estimated non-parametrically. The filtering and prediction distributions are estimated via a computationally efficient algorithm that exploits the functional relationship between the observed variable, the state variable and a measurement error with an invariant distribution. Simulation experiments are used to document the accuracy of the non-parametric method relative to both correctly and incorrectly specified parametric alternatives. In an empirical illustration, the method is used to produce sequential estimates of the forecast distribution of realized volatility on the S&P500 stock index during the recent financial crisis. A resampling technique for measuring sampling variation in the estimated forecast distributions is also demonstrated.Probabilistic Forecasting; Non-Gaussian Time Series; Grid-based Filtering; Penalized Likelihood; Subsampling; Realized Volatility.

A nano-view of West Nile virus-induced cellular changes during infection

BACKGROUND: Microscopic imaging of viruses and their interactions with and effects on host cells are frequently held back by limitations of the microscope's resolution or the invasive nature of the sample preparation procedures. It is also difficult to have a technique that would allow simultaneous imaging of both surface and sub-surface on the same cell. This has hampered endeavours to elucidate virus-host interactions. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), which is commonly used in the physical sciences, is now becoming a good correlative form of microscopy used to complement existing optical, confocal and electron microscopy for biological applications RESULTS: In this study, the West Nile (Sarafend) virus-infected Vero cell model was used. The atomic force microscope was found to be useful in producing high resolution images of virus-host events with minimal sample processing requirements. The AFM was able to image the budding of the West Nile (Sarafend) virus at the infected cell surface. Proliferation of the filopodia and thickening of clusters of actin filaments accompanied West Nile virus replication. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that the AFM is useful for virus-host interaction studies. The technique provides morphological information on both the virus and the host cell during the infection stages

Exploring the effectiveness of using authentic non-print texts as a teaching resource to motivate primary students to learn English

This dissertation shares my personal narrative stories of how I made use of authentic non-print texts in my English language lessons during a 10 week teaching practicum in my final year of the Bachelor of Education program. Narrative stories are significant in the field of education as “by listening to participant stories of their experience of teaching and learning, we hope to write narratives of what it means to educate and be educated.” (Connelly and Clandinin 1990, p. 12). The study was conducted in a Hong Kong local primary school in a district where most of the children are from low socio-economic background. The focus of the study was to see if I could motivate students to learn English in my lessons by including a range of authentic non-print texts (e.g. cartoons and songs from YouTube). The data include analysis of my lesson plans, reflective journals, questionnaire for teachers, observation notes as well as an analysis of the curriculum documents. The findings of the study has shown that students’ motivation significantly increased in a short period of time after incorporating authentic non-print texts and this suggests that authentic texts have a role to play in a textbook driven curriculum. Drawing from the observations and my personal experiences of this practicum experience, implications for language teaching will be discussed and recommendations for the Education Bureau, school administrators, teachers and student-teachers will be made. It is hoped that by sharing my experiences, it will inspire other language educations to consider making more use of authentic non-print texts in their teaching.published_or_final_versionEducationBachelorBachelor of Education in Language Educatio

Strategic Business Management Analysis Implemented by Marriott International Lodging Companies

This article revolves around the hospitality industry and Marriott International, a hospitality company based in the United States. With a wide array of properties and brands spanning 74 countries globally, Marriott International boasts an expansive presence. The primary focus of this article is to analyze the strategic management efforts undertaken by Marriott Hotels. Marriott employs numerous strategic management processes crucial for thriving within the fiercely competitive hospitality sector. Furthermore, this article delves into an examination of Marriott's internal and external environment, along with an exploration of the competitive dynamics inherent in the hospitality industry's market competition. The author utilizes qualitative research methods, complemented by a descriptive approach and an extensive literature review, to gather relevant information pertinent to this subject. This article underscores the allure of the hospitality business, highlighted by its elevated economies of scale, significant switching costs, and the diminished bargaining power held by both customers and suppliers. However, the hospitality business is not without its drawbacks. Notably, a substantial threat emerges from substitute products, underscoring a disadvantage that cannot be disregarded